Handmade in Brugge: A Lever for More Sustainable Heritage and Tourism

Handmade in Brugge is a programme that associates Bruges with cutting edge craftsmanship. The initiators wanted to develop a testing ground in which the efforts of the UNESCO Convention for the safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage (2003) would be linked to local policymaking in a programme across policy areas: heritage, tourism, urban development, education. With Handmade in Brugge, an alternative storyline for Bruges was written from 2013 onwards. In addition to the well-known tangible and world heritage of the city, Handmade in Brugge wanted to both stimulate and make the intangible heritage more visible. Handmade in Brugge is now anchored in a multi-year policy and is increasingly focusing on current themes such as innovation, creative entrepreneurship, sustainability and the search for answers to societal challenges. Together with a broad network of creators and numerous other players in the city, Handmade in Brugge contributes to a tourism that pays attention to what goes on in the city today and is made locally by many hands on a daily basis.